Vermilion Catholic surprises E.D. White

Sat, 10/06/2018 - 2:51am

HOUMA - The Vermilion Catholic Eagles, a Class 1A team, upset the Class 3A E.D. White Catholic football team 27-20 on Friday night at Yockey Bernard Field at Harvey Peltier Memorial Stadium.
E.D. White fell to 3-3 overall and Vermilion Catholic of Abbeville improved to 6-0 on the season.
The Cardinals scored first after a bad snap on a punt gave E.D. White the ball on the Vermilion Catholic 9 and Michael Clement scored on an 8-yard run and the Cardinals led 7-0 early on.
The Eagles responded with a 72-yard drive ending with a Garrett Wiggins 6-yard touchdown run with 7 minutes left in the first quarter.
Vermilion Catholic’s special teams made standout plays in the second quarter with an Ethan Lege punt being downed at the E.D. White one-yard line.
The Cardinals drove down the field to the Vermilion Catholic 14-yard line but had to settle for a field goal attempt that was blocked by the Eagles with 26 seconds left in the first half to keep the game tied at 7 heading into halftime.
“We didn’t do the little things well,” E.D. White coach Chris Bergeron said.
After the Eagles defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half, their special teams continued to shine as punt returner Moe Maxile set the offense up with great field position – the E.D White 36-yard line. They quickly scored in three plays after Drew Lege connected with Ethan Lege for a 19-yards touchdown, putting Vermilion Catholic up 13-7 following a missed extra point.
The Cardinals special teams made a play of its own in the third quarter. Louisiana-Lafayette commit Brandon Legendre returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown, and with a successful extra point, E.D. White was back on top 14-13.
Legendre finished the game with over 200 all-purpose yards.
Vermilion Catholic responded on its next drive going 85 yards in 7 plays capped off by Lege second scoring pass, an 11-yard strike to Colin Broussard giving the Eagles a 19-14 lead with 11:17 left in the game following a missed two-point try.
The Cardinals defense made a stand the first time Vermilion Catholic tried to close the game out and forced an incomplete pass on fourth down giving their offense 2:57 to work with.
Legendre responded by going 69 yards up the sideline giving the Cardinals a 20-19 lead with 2:43 left in the game, but the two-point try was no good.
The Eagles looked like they were stopped as they faced fourth-and-9 from their own 31-yard line but their special teams came up big for them again and executed a fake punt pass kept the drive alive and they had new life with a fresh set of downs at the Cardinals 17-yard line.
The Eagles finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run from Jacques Touchet, giving them a 27-20 lead with 45 seconds left in the game following a two-point conversion. Drew Lege completed a pass to Saul Dartez for the big two point play.
“All we wanted was a chance to win in the fourth quarter,” Eagles coach Kevin Fouquier said. “I couldn’t be happier for my team.”
The Cardinals still had hope but that hope was ended after an interception by Andre LeBlanc of Vermilion Catholic secured the win for the Eagles.
Drew Lege completed 26 out of 32 passes for 258 yards and three scores.
Ethan Lege had 11 catches for 113 yards, and Colin Broussard had four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. Wiggins had five receptions for 37 yards and a touchdown.